Week 7 Fantasy Football Duds
In case you aren’t completely sure how fantasy football works, just take a look at this list. These guys are writing the book on what not to do. There is nothing worse in fantasy football than taking a “stud” player, slotting them into your starting lineup, only to have them poop in their big boy pants on national television to the roaring applause of your opponent. As always, for the full recap, you can dive into today’s podcast or jump to the Duds section on YouTube. Let’s take a look at the Week 7 offenders.
Quarterbacks
Cam Newton @ CHI
211 passing yards, 2 INTs, 50 rushing yards
Rushing yards can do a lot to help a QB’s fantasy output. But they can’t be the only thing, as Cam owner’s discovered on Sunday.
Marcus Mariota @ CLE
203 passing yards, 8 rushing yards
Against the Browns?! C’mon Marcus, I thought we talked about this, you are supposed to destroy this team, not barely eek out a victory on the leg of your kicker.
Running Backs
Marshawn Lynch vs KC
2 carries, 9 rushing yards
We don’t include injured players on this list because they score poorly through no fault of their own. Marshawn Lynch, on the other hand, is an absolute hooligan and a scoundrel. In case you missed TNF, Lynch left the bench at the end of a play and injected himself into a scuffle. He then proceeded to shove an official and grab a bunch of the front of the official’s jersey. He was ejected from the contest and subsequently suspended for Week 8.
Tevin Coleman @ NE
6 carries, 16 rushing yards
Wow. If New England’s defense is starting to put it together, that team will be scary for the rest of the season. Or perhaps the Falcons just choked, again.
Melvin Gordon vs DEN
18 carries, 38 rushing yards, 1 reception, 6 receiving yards
Denver was uncharacteristically gashed by Orleans Darkwa in Week 6, they came back with a vengeance, shutting down Melvin Gordon this week, though Austin Ekeler seemed to get some things going from an efficiency perspective.
Ty Montgomery vs NO
4 carries, 6 rushing yards, 1 reception, 9 receiving yards
Green Bay just isn’t big enough for both Montgomery and Aaron Jones. It is tough to say definitively, but Montgomery may be on his way to losing his starting gig even when he’s 100% healthy.
Adrian Peterson @ LAR
11 carries, 21 rushing yards, 1 reception, 12 receiving yards
Hopefully you sold Peterson while you had the chance. He’s back to being washed, and now is playing on an Arizona team that is going to rely on Drew Stanton and/or Blaine Gabbert at QB. This is not good, just ask Larry Fitzgerald. He’s seen this movie before.
Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images
Mike Gillislee vs ATL
8 carries, 31 rushing yards
Another week with no TDs and no targets in the passing game. He didn’t even get his customary 12-15 carries. Gillislee is waiver wire fodder at this point.
Frank Gore vs JAX
9 carries, 34 rushing yards
The Colts got shellacked by the Jaguars. The fact that Gore managed 3.7 ypc carry is borderline heroic.
C.J. Anderson @LAC
10 carries, 44 rushing yards, 1 reception, 17 receiving yards
Anderson wasn’t even particularly inefficient running the ball. The Broncos just couldn’t sustain drives as they got blanked by the Chargers.
Wide Receivers
Jordy Nelson vs NO
1 reception, 13 receiving yards, 4 targets
Bad weather in Brett Hundley‘s first NFL start. Better days will be ahead for Jordy.
Davante Adams vs NO
2 receptions, 12 receiving yards, 5 targets
Bad weather in Brett Hundley’s first start. Adams still stinks.
Randall Cobb vs NO
2 receptions, 15 receiving yards, 4 targets
Bad weather in Brett Hundley’s first start. Cobb is unstartable in non-PPR leagues.
T.Y. Hilton vs JAX
2 receptions, 27 receiving yards, 8 targets
Hilton found himself in a similar situation to Thomas on Sunday. The top WR on a struggling offense locked down by one of the top corners in the league. This time it was Jalen Ramsey.
A.J. Green @ PIT
3 receptions, 41 receiving yards, 6 targets
Green got off to a fast start with 2 grabs in the first quarter and then disappeared much to his owners’ dismay.
Demaryius Thomas @ LAC
2 receptions, 9 receiving yards, 6 targets
Thomas had a tough draw against Casey Hayward, especially with Emmanuel Sanders out and Thomas dealing with his own nagging injuries.
Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Keenan Allen vs DEN
3 receptions, 41 receiving yards, 7 targets
Poor matchup and an even poorer game script led to a subpar performance for Allen. Nothing to worry about here.
Larry Fitzgerald @ LAR
3 receptions, 29 receiving yards, 3 targets
I’d like to take a moment to pour one out for Fitzgerald and the rest of the Cardinals offense. If you saw Larry’s post-game conference, the disappointment is palpable following the injury to Carson Palmer.
Sammy Watkins vs AZ
3 receptions, 42 receiving yards, 5 targets
The narrative throughout the week was the potential matchup with Partick Peterson. Once Peterson given a clean bill of health, Watkins was in for a spot of bad luck across the pond.
Devin Funchess @ CHI
4 receptions, 41 receiving yards, 8 targets
Funchess is still seeing a solid workload, I wouldn’t panic. On second thought, if you are relying on Funchess as a starting WR on your roster… go ahead and panic.
Tight Ends
Austin Hooper @ NE
1 reception, 6 receiving yards, 1 target
Hooper has been hit and miss this season. 1 target isn’t going to get it done no matter how talented you may be.
Coby Fleener @ GB
2 receptions, 22 receiving yards, 3 targets
Barfy.
Martellus Bennett vs NO
2 receptions, 17 receiving yards, 3 targets
With Rodgers out for the foreseeable future, Bennett and the rest of the Packers TEs cannot be trusted.
Zach Miller vs CAR
2 receptions, 29 receiving yards, 3 targets
The Chicago offense did next to nothing against Carolina and still won by 2 scores. This is the life of a pass catcher on a struggling team with a rookie QB.
Dishonorable Mentions
Derrick Henry @ CLE
13 carries, 13 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 11 receiving yards
Alex Collins @ MIN
10 carries, 30 rushing yards
Thomas Rawls @ NYG
11 carries, 36 rushing yards, 1 reception, 16 receiving yards
Eddie Lacy @ NYG
11 carries, 34 rushing yards, 1 reception, 9 receiving yards
J.D. McKissi…
I’m sorry I can’t do it anymore. Are we really expecting anything more from Seattle RBs at this point?! C’mon people. These guys should be in Pampers with how often they are pooping their pants.
Jonathan Stewart @ CHI
14 carries, 48 rushing yards
Eric Decker @ CLE
NOTHING, 2 targets
Rishard Matthews @ CLE
3 receptions, 40 receiving yards, 6 targets